Stock tracking and ordering for prescription drugs differs from traditional stock inventory tracking associated with retailers. Some of these differences may be attributed to retailer stock being promotionally driven and, as a result, somewhat predictable. Furthermore, prescription drugs, if ordered too soon or in too great amount, risk expiration prior to sale, thereby increasing the cost borne by the pharmacy.
Optimally, prescription stock should be sold prior to expiring but with enough cover on hand in the event that demand outpaces the rate at which new stock may be ordered and replenished. However, attempts to do so have conventionally required a great deal of observation, inventory, and manual ordering of new prescription drugs on a per-store level. And based upon the somewhat unpredictable nature of prescription drug sales, manual ordering may result in an inventory overstock or shortage. To further complicate matters, the rate at which some prescription items are dispensed and their cost may greatly differ among stocked prescription items at a single pharmacy. Because it is undesirable to risk overstocking more expensive prescription items, traditional stock ordering processes force pharmacies to order new stock more frequently for prescription items for that are more often dispensed and/or have a lower cost, which complicates the ordering process.
As a result, automatic stock tracking and ordering is useful but presents several challenges.